The individual repeatedly exercises beyond the requirements for good health, stealing time to exercise from work, school, and relationships.
Defines self-worth in terms of performance and is rarely or never satisfied with athletic achievements.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) (Costin, pp. 52-54).
Often includes social phobias. Sufferers are shy and withdrawn in new situations and with unfamiliar people.
BDD affects about two percent of the people in the United States and strikes males and females equally. Seventy percent of cases appear before age eighteen.
Sufferers are excessively concerned about appearance: body shape, body size, weight, perceived lack of muscles, facial blemishes, etc.
BDD sufferers are at elevated risk for despair and suicide. In some cases they undergo multiple, unnecessary plastic surgeries.
Muscle dysmorphia (Costin, p. 61).
Sometimes called- bigorexia-, muscle dysmorphia is the opposite of anorexia nervosa. .
People with this disorder obsess about being small and underdeveloped. They worry that they are too little and too frail. Even if they have good muscle mass, they believe their muscles are inadequate.
Orthorexia nervosa (Costin, p. 63).
It is not an official eating disorder diagnosis, but a pathological fixation on eating proper, pure or superior foods.
People with orthorexia nervosa feel superior to others who eat "improper- food, which might include non-organic or junk foods and items found in regular grocery stores, as opposed to heath food stores.
Individuals obsess over what to eat, how much to eat, how to prepare food "properly-. Eating the "right- foods becomes of primary importance in life with the individuals' assessment of self-worth hinged on what one does or does not eat.
Personal values, relationships, career goals, and friendships become less important than the quality and timing of what is consumed.
.
HEATHER - A SURVIVOR'S STORY.
"Heather-, a young woman who has successfully recovered from a lengthy period of eating disorders, agreed to be interviewed in the hopes of "helping even just one person- (personal interview, April 21, 2002).
